GENERAL REFERENCES
Plumbing Code — See Ch. 1424.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
(a)
The Council of Upper Providence Township recognizes that there are
currently limited opportunities in the Upper Providence Township for
public or community sewerage facilities to serve the residents of
Upper Providence Township. In an effort to address the potential failure
of on-lot sewerage facilities within the municipal boundaries of the
Township, the Council has determined that certain measures are necessary
for the protection, benefit and preservation of the health, safety
and welfare of the inhabitants of the Township.
(b)
The Council desires to establish procedures for the use and maintenance
of retaining tanks designed to receive and retain sewage whether from
residential or commercial property uses, when the property owner adequately
demonstrates that no other viable alternative means of sewage disposal
is available to the property. It is specifically intended that such
retaining tanks are temporary in nature and permitted only as specifically
approved by the Township Engineer as part of a plan providing a more
permanent solution of sewage disposal.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
Unless the context specifically and clearly indicates otherwise,
the meaning of terms used in this chapter shall be as follows:
(a)
OWNER — Shall mean any person vested with ownership, legal
or equitable, sole or partial, of any property located within the
municipal boundaries of Upper Providence Township.
(b)
PERSON — Shall mean any individual, partnership, company, association,
corporation or other group or entity.
(c)
RETAINING TANK — Shall mean a watertight receptacle, whether
permanent or temporary, which receives and retains sewage and is designed
and constructed to facilitate the ultimate disposal of the sewage
at another site.
(d)
SEWAGE — Shall mean any substance that contains any of the
waste products or excrement or other discharge from the bodies of
human beings or animals and any noxious or deleterious substance being
harmful or inimical to the public health, or to animal or aquatic
life or to the use of water for domestic water supply or for recreation
or any substance which constitutes pollution under the Clean Stream
Laws, as amended.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
The use of a retaining tank may be permitted by the Board of
Supervisors, provided that the following minimum criteria are met:
(a)
The property owner shall provide evidence to the Township that the
on-lot septic system, which serves the property, has failed and that
no other viable alternative means of sewage collection and disposal
are available to the property.
(b)
The property is otherwise suitable for a retaining tank, and the
use, if approved, will be susceptible to regulation or restriction
by appropriate conditions and safeguards, including but not limited
to, audible and visual warning devices (visible from street level)
to indicate when the retaining tank is within 75% of its capacity.
In addition, for retaining tanks with a capacity of 10,000 gallons
or more, an automated alarm system shall be installed to contact the
approved sewage disposal contractor when the retaining tank is 2/3
full.
(c)
The retaining tank shall be constructed and maintained in conformance
with the provisions of Title 25 of the Pennsylvania Code, as may be
amended and supplemented from time to time.
(d)
The use of a retaining tank will serve as a temporary measure, only
until a suitable alternative method of sewage disposal is available
to the property.
(e)
The use of a retaining tank will serve the best interests of the
Township, the convenience of the community, where applicable, and
the public health, safety and general welfare and/or will serve to
abate a nuisance or public health hazard.
(f)
Tank shall be installed below grade.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
That the Council of Upper Providence Township is authorized
and empowered to undertake within the Township the control and methods
of retaining tank use, sewage disposal and sewage collection and transportation
thereof.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
That the Council is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt
such rules and regulations concerning sewage which it may deem necessary
from time to time to effect the purposes herein, including but not
limited to, requiring the posting of financial security and execution
of a written maintenance agreement by the property owner.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
All such rules and regulations adopted by the Council shall
be in conformity with the provisions herein, all other ordinances
of the Township, and all-applicable laws, and applicable rules and
regulations of administrative agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
The Council shall have the right and power to fix, alter, charge
and collect rates, assessments, and other charges in the area served
by its facilities at reasonable and uniform rates as authorized by
applicable law, all of which may be amended by resolution from time
to time.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
(a)
The collection and transportation of all sewage from any property
utilizing a retaining tank shall be done only by an approved sewage
disposal contractor, and the disposal thereof shall be made only at
such site or sites as may be approved by the Department of Environmental
Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(b)
The Council or its authorized agent shall receive, review and retain
pumping receipts from permitted retaining tanks, which shall be provided
by the property owner or the approved sewage disposal contractor,
within five days of the date the retaining tank was pumped.
(c)
The Council or its authorized agent shall receive, review and retain,
annual inspection reports for each permitted retaining tank, which
shall be provided by the property owner.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
The owner of a property that utilizes a retaining tank shall:
(a)
Provide for the use of a retaining tank only as a temporary, interim
receptacle for the disposal of sewage as part of an overall, more
permanent sewage disposal plan.
(b)
Install and maintain the retaining tank in conformance with this
or any ordinance of this Township, the provisions of any applicable
law, and the rules and regulations of the Council and any administrative
agency of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(c)
Require an approved sewage disposal contractor to inspect the retaining
tank(s) on an annual basis, and provide a written report of the inspection,
which shall also be provided to the Township.
(d)
Permit only an approved sewage disposal contractor, to collect, transport,
and dispose of the contents therein.
(e)
Submit to the Township, on an annual basis, an executed contract
for the maintenance of the retaining tank, with an approved sewage
disposal contractor. Such contract shall be renewed or replaced and
kept in full force and effect during the entire period in which a
retaining tank is utilized. Failure to maintain such a contract or
submit the contract to the Township shall cause an immediate revocation
of the retaining tank permit.
(f)
At the time the permanent system is operational, fill the retaining
tank with an approved material, remove and properly dispose of the
tank or, with the permission of the Township, incorporate the tank
in the permanent system.
(g)
Submit to the Township for its review and retention all pumping receipts.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
Any person desiring to own, construct, operate or maintain a
retaining tank shall file an application therefore with the Township,
together with all plans (including but not limited to, planning modules
and site plan) and other materials necessary to demonstrate compliance
with all of the provisions of this chapter. Upon approval by the Township,
the application shall be forwarded to the Department of Environmental
Protection of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, if appropriate, which
shall, if it finds the application, plans and approvals to be in accordance
with this chapter, process the application in accordance with the
regulations administered by the Department of Environmental Protection,
and, upon approval, issue permits.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
The Township shall retain the right, but not the obligation,
to undertake any of the duties or responsibilities of the property
owner hereunder, in the event that the property owner fails to comply
with any of the provisions of this chapter. Any costs, including reasonable
attorney fees, incurred by the Township shall be chargeable against
the property owner and the Township may place a municipal lien against
the property for such amounts.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
In addition to any other remedies provided in this chapter,
any violation of this chapter shall constitute a nuisance and shall
be abated by the Township by either seeking mitigation of the nuisance
or appropriate equitable or legal relief from a court of competent
jurisdiction.
[Ord. No. 419,
passed 10-12-2006]
(a)
The criminal fine, imposed by the Council or its authorized agents
for each violation of this chapter shall be $1,000 upon determining
a violation of this chapter has, or is, occurring, and except as otherwise
provided in this chapter, the Township shall issue a notice of violation
("notice") upon the violator.
(b)
In the event that the notice is not complied with and the criminal
fine is not voluntarily paid to the Township, the Township shall initiate
a summary enforcement proceeding before a district justice, as provided
by the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure, in which case the
Township Solicitor may assume charge of the prosecution without the
consent of the District Attorney as required under Pa. R. Crim. P.
Sec. 83(c).
(c)
Each day or portion thereof that the violation shall be found to
exist, or each section of this chapter which is found to have been
violated shall give rise to a separate offense under this chapter.
